Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
	The east entrance and façade
	Wikimedia \| © OpenStreetMap
Established	1913
Location	Exposition Park; Los Angeles, California
Coordinates	34°1′1″N 118°17′16″W / 34.01694°N 118.28778°W
Type	Natural history museum
Visitors	about 1 million annually
Director	Lori Bettison-Varga
Public transit access	Expo Park/USC; Expo/Vermont (E Line)
Website	nhm.org
	Natural History Museum
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	Show map of the Los Angeles metropolitan areaShow map of CaliforniaShow map of the United StatesShow all
Location	900 Exposition Blvd; Los Angeles, California
Coordinates	34°1′1″N 118°17′16″W / 34.01694°N 118.28778°W
Area	6 acres (2.4 ha)
Built	1913
Architect	Hudson & Munsell
Architectural style	Beaux-Arts; Neoclassical; Romanesque; Plateresque;
NRHP reference No.	75000434
Added to NRHP	March 4, 1975

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is the largest natural and historical museum in the western United States.^[3] Its collections include nearly 35 million specimens and artifacts and cover 4.5 billion years of history. This large collection is comprised not only of specimens for exhibition, but also of vast research collections housed on and offsite.

The museum is associated with two other museums in Greater Los Angeles: the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits in Hancock Park and the William S. Hart Ranch and Museum in Newhall. The three museums work together to achieve their common mission: "to inspire wonder, discovery, and responsibility for our natural and cultural worlds."^[4]

History[]

Considered one of the first preservationists in Los Angeles,^[5] Californio politician Antonio F. Coronel's donations formed the original collection of the museum.^[6]

Old east door of The Natural History Museum in 1956

NHM opened in Exposition Park, Los Angeles, California, United States in 1913 as The Museum of History, Science, and Art. The moving force behind it was a museum association founded in 1910. Its distinctive main building with fitted marble walls and domed and colonnaded rotunda, is on The National Register of Historic Places. Additional wings opened in 1925, 1930, 1960, and 1976.

The museum was divided in 1961 into The Los Angeles County Museum of History and Science and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). LACMA moved to new quarters on Wilshire Boulevard in 1965, and the Museum of History and Science was renamed The Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History. Eventually, the museum renamed itself again, becoming The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

Hall of African Mammals

In 2003, the museum began a campaign to transform its exhibits and visitor experience. The museum reopened its seismically retrofitted renovated 1913 rotunda, along with the new Age of Mammals exhibition.^[7] in 2010. Its Dinosaur Hall opened in July 2011. A new Los Angeles history exhibition, Becoming Los Angeles, opened in 2013. The outdoor Nature Gardens and Nature Lab, which explore L.A. wildlife, also opened in 2013.

Research and collections[]

Triceratops mount in the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

The museum maintains research and collections in the following fields:

The museum has three floors of permanent exhibits. Among the most popular museum displays are those devoted to animal habitats, dinosaurs, pre-Columbian cultures, The Ralph M. Parsons Discovery Center and Insect Zoo, and the new Nature Lab, which explores urban wildlife in Southern California.

The museum's collections are strong in many fields, but the mineralogy and Pleistocene paleontology are the most esteemed, the latter thanks to the wealth of specimens collected from The La Brea Tar Pits.

The museum has almost 30 million specimens representing marine zoology. These include one of the largest collections of marine mammal remains in the world, housed in a warehouse off site, which at over 5,000 specimens is second in size only to that of The Smithsonian.^[8]

The museum's collection of historical documents is held in The Seaver Center for Western History Research.^[9]

Special exhibits[]

The museum hosts regular special exhibitions which augment its collections and advance its mission. Recent special exhibits have included Mummies and Pterosaurs.

The museum also hosts a butterfly pavilion outside every spring and summer and a spider pavilion on the same site in the fall.^[10]^[11]

Architecture[]

Museum rotunda

Over the years, the museum has built additions onto its original building. Originally dedicated when The Natural History Museum opened its doors in 1913, the rotunda is one of the museum's most elegant and popular spaces. Lined with marble columns and crowned by a stained glass dome, the room is also the home of the very first piece of public art funded by Los Angeles County, a Beaux-Arts statue by Julia Bracken Wendt entitled Three Muses, or History, Science and Art.^[12] This hall is among the most distinctive locales in Los Angeles and has often been used as a filming location.

References[]

^ Boehm, Mike (July 8, 2015). "Lori Bettison-Varga named new president of L.A. County's Natural History Museum". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
^ "Los Angeles County". County of Los Angeles. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
^ http://www.nhm.org/site/about-our-museums/mission
^ LA Magazine - Becoming Los Angeles
^ Antonio de Coronel
^ Suzanne Muchnic (July 4, 2010). "'Age of Mammals' at The Natural History Museum". Los Angeles Times.
^ Fessenden, Marissa (July 20, 2015). "In L.A. There's a Warehouse Filled with Whale Bones". Smithsonian.
^ "About the Seaver Center". Natural History Museum Los Angeles County. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
^ "Butterfly Pavilion". Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Retrieved 2017-11-21.
^ "Spider Pavilion". Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Retrieved 2017-11-21.
^ Rubenstein, Charlotte Streifer, ‘’American Women Sculptors: A History of Women Working in Three Dimensions’’, G. K. Hall and Co. Boston, 1990 p. 108

External links[]

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County official website
William S. Hart Ranch and Museum
George C. Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits
Review of the Museum's new Dinosaur Hall at the New York Times, July 19, 2011

Slide show of exhibit

One of the famous Diamonds Collection in Ehibition of L.A. COUNTY MUSEUM, Recently exhibited in Taiwan Auction House, December 6, 2020

Coordinates: 34°01′01″N 118°17′20″W / 34.016989°N 118.288781°W / 34.016989; -118.288781

[1] Boehm, Mike (July 8, 2015). "Lori Bettison-Varga named new president of L.A. County's Natural History Museum". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 15, 2016.

[nris-2] "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.

[3] "Los Angeles County". County of Los Angeles. Retrieved July 15, 2016.

[4] ttp://www.nhm.org/site/about-our-museums/mission

[5] LA Magazine - Becoming Los Angeles

[6] Antonio de Coronel

[7] Suzanne Muchnic (July 4, 2010). "'Age of Mammals' at The Natural History Museum". Los Angeles Times.

[8] Fessenden, Marissa (July 20, 2015). "In L.A. There's a Warehouse Filled with Whale Bones". Smithsonian.

[9] "About the Seaver Center". Natural History Museum Los Angeles County. Retrieved 31 December 2016.

[10] "Butterfly Pavilion". Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Retrieved 2017-11-21.

[11] "Spider Pavilion". Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Retrieved 2017-11-21.

[12] Rubenstein, Charlotte Streifer, ‘’American Women Sculptors: A History of Women Working in Three Dimensions’’, G. K. Hall and Co. Boston, 1990 p. 108

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

show v t County of Los Angeles
Board of supervisors	Hilda Solis, 1st Dist. Holly Mitchell, 2nd Dist. Sheila Kuehl, 3rd Dist. Janice Hahn, 4th Dist. Kathryn Barger, 5th Dist.
Departments	Assessor's Office Chief Executive Office Children and Family Services County Counsel District Attorney's Office Fire Health Agency Health Services Mental Health Public Health Lifeguards Medical Examiner-Coroner Military and Veterans Affairs Parks and Recreation Probation Public Defender Public Library Public Works Sheriff's Superior Court
Airports	Brackett Field Compton/Woodley Airport Fox Field San Gabriel Valley Airport (El Monte) Whiteman Airport
County hospitals	LAC+USC Medical Center Harbor–UCLA Medical Center Martin Luther King Jr. Outpatient Center Olive View–UCLA Medical Center Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center
Culture	Ahmanson Theatre Arboretum and Botanic Garden Bob Hope Patriotic Hall Descanso Gardens Dorothy Chandler Pavilion Grand Park John Anson Ford Amphitheatre Hollywood Bowl La Brea Tar Pits Mark Taper Forum Museum of Art Music Center Natural History Museum South Coast Botanic Garden Walt Disney Concert Hall Whittier Narrows
Others	LAC Sheriff's Air Rescue 5 LACMTA Seal LAC Hall of Records

show v t South Los Angeles region, Los Angeles
Districts and neighborhoods	Baldwin Hills Baldwin Village Broadway-Manchester Canterbury Knolls Central-Alameda Chesterfield Square Crenshaw Crenshaw Manor Exposition Park Gramercy Park Green Meadows Harvard Park Historic South Central Hyde Park Jefferson Park King Estates Leimert Park Manchester Square Marlton Square Nevin Park Mesa Heights South Park University Park University Expo Park West Vermont Knolls Vermont Square Vermont Vista Vermont-Slauson Vermont Harbor View Heights Watts West Adams West Park Terrace
Points of interest	Banc of California Stadium California Science Center Coca-Cola Building Exposition Park L.A. Coliseum Lucas Museum of Narrative Art (under construction) Natural History Museum USC Watts Towers
Neighboring cities and communities	Athens Compton Florence-Graham Harbor Area Huntington Park Inglewood Ladera Heights Lynwood South Gate Vernon View Park-Windsor Hills Westmont Willowbrook
LA Regions Crescenta Valley Downtown Eastside Harbor Area Greater Hollywood Northeast LA Northwest LA San Fernando Valley South LA Westside Wilshire Mid-City West Mid-Wilshire

show v t U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Topics	Architectural style categories Contributing property Historic district History of the National Register of Historic Places Keeper of the Register National Park Service Property types
Lists by state	List of U.S. National Historic Landmarks by state: Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
Lists by insular areas	American Samoa Guam Minor Outlying Islands Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico Virgin Islands
Lists by associated state	Federated States of Micronesia Marshall Islands Palau
Other areas	District of Columbia Morocco
Related	National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 Historic Preservation Fund List of jails and prisons on the National Register of Historic Places University and college buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places portal Category

show Authority control
General	Integrated Authority File (Germany) ISNI 1 VIAF 1 2 WorldCat
National libraries	Catalonia United States Czech Republic 2
Scientific databases	CiNii (Japan)
Other	Microsoft Academic